It is unfortunate that the Johannine Thomas has come to be known by many Christians as “doubting Thomas.” Thomas, however, is no different than the rest of the disciples or for that matter, you or me. In the broader narrative…
Letting go – moving on (The metaphorical meaning of an Easter story)
In the story world of John’s Gospel Jesus tells the disciples that he is going away, but he would not leave them without his presence. How could that be? Most spiritual truth is paradoxical in nature. The Father, says Jesus,…
Good power/bad power (The nonviolent Jesus versus the apocalyptic Christ)
It is vital to our spiritual health to understand the difference between dominant power and spiritual power. Dominant power is the power to externally influence behavior by the use of force, coercion, threat or promise, reward or punishment. Spiritual power,…
What Easter means (and why what literally happened on Easter morning is irrelevant)
What matters most is not what historically happened on Easter morning to the body of Jesus but what the Easter story means. The Easter stories in the Gospels are religious/spiritual/theological stories, not historical reports. That is not to say there…
Reconsidering John 3:16 (A progressive Baptist’s interpretation)
In The Lord of the Rings there was one ring to rule them all. In the Bible if there is one verse to rule them, all it is John 3:16. If one learned just one Bible verse in Sunday school or…
A progressive Baptist response to Roger Olson (and a word about heresy)
Roger Olson, a professor at Truett Theological Seminary and a blogger at Patheos Evangelical recently wrote a piece titled, A Word from a Founder to All My “Moderate Baptist” Friends. His basic argument is that the founder of the Cooperative…
What made Jesus angry?
In the healing of the leper in Mark 1:40-45 the text reads in the NRSV, “Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him.” There is a footnote that says, “Other ancient authorities read anger.” There are some…
American Sniper and the Power of the System
There are many viewers of “American Sniper” who consider Chris Kyle an American hero. Some of these, who are also Christians, even see him as an example of Christian heroism. These are folks who collapse obedience to God into obedience…
What to do about ISIS? A Christian’s anguish
By Chuck Queen When I think about ISIS and what our response as a nation should be to their reign of terror my soul is in anguish. Why the anguish? Does ISIS not completely devalue human life and are they…